'Spy-Hunter

The gauntlet is thrown down

Think you've got the stones to take on a GameSpy editor? How about four?

As part of our continuing commitment to the wonderful community of gamers that thrives around GameSpy, we're always looking for new ways to interact with you, our readers. Our latest (and possibly most misguided) attempt is to put our own reputations on the line in a competition that is undoubtedly destined to become legendary. Let it be known far and wide: we at GameSpy challenge you to a duel of wits and reflexes. All of the carnage will go down in this new column. We call it 'Spy-Hunter.

Every other Wednesday night, at 7 p.m. Pacific, we'll offer our delicate egos to you for the sheer sport of it. Now, while we do play a lot of games here at GameSpy, they're not always the same games being played on a consistent basis, so you'll undoubtedly have the advantage. Hence the title, which highlights the fact that you will be stalking and undoubtedly murdering us in the digital realm.

How It Works

Shoot an XBL friend request to one of the following GameSpy editors (please only send one request to one editor so that we don't have any duplicates):

On game day (remember, those are alternating Wednesdays beginning next week, March 28) sign on and look for the editor that you've befriended. Once you've got a bead on one of us, shoot us a message and we'll invite you to the game on a first-come, first-served basis. Simple enough.

The first game we're going to try is Gears of War, because all of us editors have a copy and Xbox Live makes it easy for us to set this whole thing up. We're planning on switching up games every column though, so be sure to check each column so that you know which game is coming up next. I'm hoping that we can eventually expand to PC, PS3 and Wii competitions, but for the time being we'll confine next week's bloodsport to Gears of War.

Sterling's ready to kick your ass and chew your bubblegum.

Your Rights, or Lack Thereof

There are a couple of things that I need to go over before we begin this throw down hoe-down. Firstly, we reserve the right to kick you out of the game and/or off of our friends lists at any time and for any reason - this, unfortunately, is not up for discussion so mind your manners, please. Possible reasons for bootage include but are not limited to: an inordinate amount of swearing or other forms of epithets relating to sexual orientation or mental disability (if you can't make it through a match without dropping an f-bomb or calling someone an r-tard, mute your mic), unsportsmanlike conduct (gloating or otherwise insulting other players - especially team-killing in games that allow that sort of thing) and anything that might generally make you come off as a jackass. Keep in mind, these rules do not necessarily apply to the GameSpy staff, and you may be subjected to ruthless mocking during the game itself or in the subsequent column documenting the matches (though you have my word that we'll make our finest effort to refrain from such chicanery).

As a quick aside, we will run a routine purge of our friends lists in order to keep the matches open to all. As you may already be aware, Microsoft enforces a strict 100 friend limit and so we need to make an effort to ensure that everyone gets a chance to gun us down in cold blood. This purge is nothing personal, and we invite you to reapply before the next match.

GameSpy reserves the right to commit your gamertag to video, so if you want to maintain your relative anonymity, I do not recommend participating in this event. In the week that follows the match, I'll write up our violent little encounters and give nods to those that deserve them. Specifically, that means that I'll do a rundown of highlights from the match and I may use your gamertag in the column. I'd like to think of this as an incentive, but if you don't you can consider this fair warning. I also plan on issuing awards based on some random criteria that I just plain make up; although, some will be standards like an award for who killed the most people. Again, we are going to be recording an HD video feed of these matches, so be aware that you may be filmed doing something ridiculous or unflattering and I will take that opportunity to poke fun at your n00bness.

'Spy-Hunter is written by Gabe Graziani, who may come off as thoroughly conceited but is actually about as frightening as a cardboard box full of kittens. Please email him about how little he intimidates you right here, and don't forget to send out those friend requests!